Taxi (film series)

French film series

Taxi

Created by| Luc Besson
Original work| Taxi (1998)
Years| 1998–2018
Films and television
Film(s)|

* Original series
* Taxi (1998)
* Taxi 2 (2000)
* Taxi 3 (2003)
* Taxi 4 (2007)
* Taxi 5 (2018)
* Remake
* Taxi (2004)

Television series| Taxi Brooklyn (2014)

Taxi is a series of French comedy films, created by screenwriter and producer Luc Besson, consisting of five films primarily set in Marseille. In addition, an American-French remake of the 1998 original was made in 2004 and titled Taxi. In 2014 an American-French TV series called Taxi Brooklyn also aired.

## Films

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Film  | Release date  | Director(s)  | Screenwriter(s)  | Producer(s)

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Original series
Taxi | April 8, 1998 (1998-04-08) | Gérard Pirès | Luc Besson | Luc Besson, Michèle Pétin & Laurent Pétin
Taxi 2 | March 29, 2000 (2000-03-29) | Gérard Krawczyk
Taxi 3 | January 29, 2003 (2003-01-29) | Luc Besson
Taxi 4 | February 14, 2007 (2007-02-14) | Luc Besson, Laurent Pétin & Michèle Pétin
Taxi 5 | April 11, 2018 (2018-04-11) | Franck Gastambide | Franck Gastambide, Stéphane Kazandjian & Ahmed Hamidi  | Luc Besson
Remake
Taxi | October 6, 2004 (2004-10-06) | Tim Story | Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon & Jim Kouf | Luc Besson

### Original series

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#### Taxi (1998)

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Main article: Taxi (1998 film)

Taxi was shot in 1998 by Gérard Pirès based on the script by Luc Besson. It tells the story of the young taxi driver Daniel, who loves risk and high speeds, and clumsy policeman Émilien who team up to catch a German gang of bank robbers. In the end, thanks to Daniel's ingenuity, they succeed. The movie earned $44.4 million at the box office with a budget of $8.1 million.[1]

#### Taxi 2 (2000)

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Main article: Taxi 2

In 2000, director Gérard Krawczyk filmed the sequel. The scriptwriter and producer of the picture was Luc Besson. At the heart of the story lies the confrontation between Daniel and Émilien about the kidnapping of the Japanese minister of defense who arrived in Marseille to get acquainted with France's achievements in the fight against terrorists. The movie earned $64.4 million at the box office with a budget of €10.7 million.[2]

#### Taxi 3 (2003)

[edit]

Main article: Taxi 3

In 2003 Taxi 3 was released. The director was again Gérard Krawczyk, with Luc Besson still being producer and script writer. Daniel and Émilien reunite once again to fight a gang of bank robbers disguised as Santa Claus. The movie earned $64.5 million at the box office with a budget of €14.5 million.[3]

#### Taxi 4 (2007)

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Main article: Taxi 4

On February 14, 2007, the premiere of the film Taxi 4 was held in France. As in the two previous movies, the director was Gerard Krawczyk, and Luc Besson was scriptwriter and producer. The most dangerous criminal in the world, Albert van den Bosch, escapes from the Marseille police station because of Émilien's incapability. As a result of this, Émilien is dismissed and is now working with Daniel and his wife Petra trying to track down and arrest the escaped criminal. The movie raised more than $65 million at the box office with a budget of €17.3 million.[4]

#### Taxi 5 (2018)

[edit]

Main article: Taxi 5

Taxi 5 premiered in theaters on April 12, 2018. As before, the scriptwriter and producer was Luc Besson, while Gerard Krawczyk was replaced by the young director Franck Gastambide. The characters were also changed, instead of Daniel and Émilien, the heroes of the movie are Daniel's nephew Eddie Makhlouf and the Parisian police officer Silvain Maro, transferred to Marseille. They have to catch a gang of Italian robbers who use Italian supercars as their getaway vehicles. The movie earned $42 million at the box office with a budget of €20.39 million.[5]

### Remake

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#### Taxi (2004)

[edit]

Main article: Taxi (2004 film)

The success of the series of films Taxi attracted the attention of Hollywood. In 2004, Luc Besson's studio EuropaCorp and the American 20th Century Fox jointly shot a remake of the first Taxi, keeping the same title.

Belle Williams is the fastest taxi driver of New York and dreams of competing in NASCAR. But instead of racing, she has to team up with police officer Andy Washburn, a dimwitted detective and an inept driver. Together, they pursue a gang of bank robbers led by Vanessa – a cold and prudent beauty.

The film turned out to be financially profitable, grossing nearly $69 million worldwide with a budget of $25 million[6] but received negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 10%.[7]

### Future

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In an interview with “50 Minutes Inside,” Franck Gastambide announced that if Taxi 5 pays off well at the box office, then Taxi 6 will be his next job. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box office with a budget of €20.39 million, raising only $35 million. Despite this, the director still plans to make the sixth film.[8]

In an interview with the Premiere newspaper, Samy Naceri said that he was ready to star in Taxi 6 if Luc Besson “assembled the old team”, he refused to only appear as a cameo.[9][10]

At the Dinar Film Festival of 2018, Sabrina Ouazani confirmed that the sixth film is still in planning stage, further details are currently unknown.[11]

## Television

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Series  | Season  | Episodes  | First released  | Last released  | Showrunner(s)  | Network(s)

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Taxi Brooklyn | 1  | 12  | April 14, 2014  | May 12, 2014  | Gary Scott Thompson, Stephen Tolkin & Franck Ollivier  | TF1, NBC

Main article: Taxi Brooklyn

In 2014, the television series Taxi Brooklyn, filmed jointly by EuropaCorp Television, the French TV channel TF1 and the American NBC, aired on television. The main creator of the series was Gary Scott Thompson. The plot was based on the first "Taxi".

Caitlin "Cat" Sullivan is an NYPD detective working in Brooklyn. After her driving privileges are suspended, she relies on Leo Romba, a Brooklyn cab driver from France. Leo becomes Cat's driver and a de facto consultant on her cases. While solving crimes with Leo, Cat is also running her own unauthorized investigation into the death of her father, an NYPD detective thought to have been executed by the Capella crime family. In doing so, she clashes with her boss, Captain Baker, and her ex-husband Gregg, who has picked up the case for the FBI.

On the site Rotten Tomatoes, the series received a rating of 38%.[12] On March 6, 2015, NBC cancelled the show.[13]

## Cast and crew

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### Principal cast

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> List indicators

>   * This table shows the characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise
>   * Italics indicate the actor only appears in flashbacks via archive footage from previous films
>   * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film

Character  | Original series  | Remake

|
|

Taxi | Taxi 2 | Taxi 3 | Taxi 4 | Taxi 5 | Taxi
1998  | 2000  | 2003  | 2007  | 2018  | 2004
Daniel Morales  | Samy Naceri | Mentioned |
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec  | Frédéric Diefenthal |
Lilly Bertineau  | Marion Cotillard | Mentioned |
Petra  | Emma Wiklund |
Commissaire Gérard Gibert  | Bernard Farcy |
Alain Trésor  | Édouard Montoute |
General Edmond Bertineau  |  | Jean-Christophe Bouvet | Mentioned |
Sylvain Marot  |  | Franck Gastambide |
Eddy Maklouf  |  | Malik Bentalha |
Samia  |  | Sabrina Ouazani |
Sandy  |  | Sand Van Roy |
Isabelle "Belle" Precious Williams  |  | Queen Latifah
Detective Andrew Washburn  |  | Jimmy Fallon
Vanessa  |  | Gisele Bündchen
Jesse  |  | Henry Simmons
Lieutenant Mata Robbins  |  | Jennifer Esposito

### Additional crew

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Title  | Taxi | Taxi 2 | Taxi 3 | Taxi 4 | Taxi 5

|
|
|
|
|

Director  | Gérard Pirès | Gérard Krawczyk | Franck Gastambide
Screenplay  | Luc Besson | Franck Gastambide
Stéphane Kazandjian
Luc Besson
Editing  | Véronique Lange  | Thierry Hosse  | Yann Herve  | Kristin Luca Navarro
Friederic Toraval  | Julien Rey
Producer  | Luc Besson
Michèle Pétin  |
Laurent Pétin  |
Music  | Akhenaton | Al Kemya  | Kore & Skalp | Tefa, Masta
Weallstar—Da. Octopusss  | Kore
Cinematographer  | Jean-Pierre Sauveur  | Gerard Sterin  | Pierre Morel | Vincent Richard
Premiere  | 8 April 1998  | 29 March 2000  | 29 January 2003  | 10 February 2007 (Marseille)
15 February 2007 (rest of France) | 7 April 2018 (Marseille)
11 April 2018 (rest of France)
Runtime  | 90 minutes  | 88 minutes  | 87 minutes  | 97 minutes  | 102 minutes
Budget  | €8.1 mln[14] | €10.7 mln[15] | €14.49 mln[16] | €17.3 mln[17] | €20.39 mln[18]
Genre  | Comedy Action
Country  |  France
Company
ARP Sélection
TF1 Films Production
StudioCanal | Apipoulaï  |
Leeloo Productions | EuropaCorp
Distributor
France | ARP Sélection  | EuropaCorp Distribution

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office performance

[edit]

| Film  | All films of the Taxi (film series)

|
|

Taxi | Taxi 2 | Taxi 3 | Taxi 4 | Taxi 5
France | $37,980,000[14] | $63,704,000[15] | $35,752,480[16] | $33,342,703[17] | $21,899,085[19] | $192,678,268
United States | $268,254[14] | $729,844[15] | $497,208[16] | —  | —  | $1,495,306
Worldwide  | $44,218,015[14] | $64,433,844[15] | $64,497,208[16] | $65,114,802[17] | $64,497,208[19] | $302,761,077

## Music

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### Soundtracks

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* Taxi: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 1998
* Taxi 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2000
* Taxi 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2003
* Taxi: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2004
* Taxi 4: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2007
* Taxi 5: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2018

## Video games

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* Taxi 2 – Based on Taxi 2. Released in 2000.[citation needed]
* Taxi 3 – Based on Taxi 3. Released in 2003.[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Taxi (1998) - JPBox-Office". jpbox-office.com. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
2. ^ "Taxi 2 (2000)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
3. ^ "Taxi 3 (2003)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
4. ^ "Taxi 4 (2007)". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
5. ^ "Taxi 5 (2018) - JPBox-Office". jpbox-office.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
6. ^ "Taxi (2004) – International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
7. ^ "Taxi (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
8. ^ "Franck Gastambide, le nouveau héros de Luc Besson". MYTF1 (in French). 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
9. ^ "Samy Naceri absent de Taxi 5 : l'acteur donne sa version des faits". Premiere.fr (in French). 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
10. ^ "Samy Naceri sur un Taxi 6 : "Évidemment je serais partant !"". Premiere.fr (in French). 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
11. ^ Meunier, Emilie (2018-10-01). "Exclu. Y aura-t-il un Taxi 6 ? L'actrice Sabrina Ouazani répond (INTERVIEW)". www.programme-tv.net (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-04.
12. ^ "Taxi Brooklyn: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
13. ^ Trevor Kimball (March 6, 2015). "'Taxi Brooklyn' Canceled By NBC, No Season Two". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
14. ^ a b c d "Box-office Taxi (1998)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
15. ^ a b c d "Box-office Taxi 2 (2000)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
16. ^ a b c d "Box-office Taxi 3 (2003)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
17. ^ a b c "Box-office Taxi 4 (2007)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.
18. ^ Jamal Henni (April 7, 2018). "Pourquoi a-t-il fallu attendre Taxi 5 pendant onze ans?". BFM Business (in French). Retrieved 10 April 2018.
19. ^ a b "Box-office Taxi 5 (2018)". JP's box-office (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Taxi

Films|

* Taxi (1998)
* Taxi 2 (2000)
* Taxi 3 (2003)
* Taxi (2004)
* Taxi 4 (2007)
* Taxi 5 (2018)

Television|

* Taxi Brooklyn (2014)

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